Pages

Thursday, 10 July 2014

3 Effects of Cigarette - Smoking on Contact Lens Tolerance

Smoking has never been good to health. It leaves deleterious
effects on human body and soul. Stained teeth, mouth sores along with other
injurious effects are only some of the preliminary health disasters attributed
to smoking. Smoking may even lead to potential ocular damages where people who wear colored contact lenses are at
greater risk.

A research says; conducted by Johnson
and Johnson, Department of Ocular Surface and Visual Optics, Keio University
School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, “Even brief passive exposure of contact
lenses to cigarette smoking have worse effects on the ocular surface in
epithelia”. It increases the tear instability which turn eyes dry leading to
gross corneal ulcers.

2. Corneal Infiltrates

In simple words corneal infiltrates are corneal inflammation.
They are hazy-gray small areas that appear on the cornea often under the upper
eyelids. They are composed of inflammatory cells which produce an annoying
feeling of having an “external agent” in eyes, with excessive tearing, redness,
sensitivity to light & contact lens discomfort.

3. Dryness & Irritation

Smoke from the cigarette may lead to dryness &
irritation. The chemicals from cigarette when enter the blood-stream restrict
blood-flow to retina which causes bloodshot & itchy eyes. People who wear
contact lenses are at greater risk of suffering from such damages as their eyes
already lack enough permeability of oxygen.

Though dryness with contact lenses is nothing to be worried
about and in most cases it can be cured using rewetting or lubricating drops;
treating dryness caused by cigarette smoke would require you to quit wearing
contact lenses at the first place furthermore;aggravating the vision problems.

Cigarette smoking has severe consequences on human health,
both internally & externally. What worse? smoking cigarette may lead to
permanent blindness, corneal ulcers & blurred vision. You do not need one more reason to quit smoking, especially if you are also one of the contact lens wearer. Do you?